ACUTO 440

W

Will.223

Joined
Mar 1, 2000
Messages
459
I realize all of us have several knives in our "collections". Lately, I've been focusing on autos. However, this morning I got out a CRK&T carbon fiber (my favorite handle material) M-16 with a type of blade steel called ACUTO 440. I touched up the edges a little with a ceramic rod and WOW!!! Is the M-16 ever sharp! It's like a razor blade. Does anyone know what the difference between ACUTO and the regular 440's is?

Thanks,
Will
 
Go click on the 'search' button; search for 'acuto' you will find several threads on this subject, including one with actual cutting tests.

Walt
 
Walt,
I honestly appreciate the information. Your posts and explanations are excellent!

Will
 
I believe Boker also is or will use that steel.They advertize it as an extremely corrosion resistant (stainless)steel.Walt as usual an excellent post.
 
Nice one Walt.

W.A.

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I have to say Will, that M16-Carbon fiber is probably one of the sharpest CRKT blades out of the box. I sliced the heck out of my finger the first time I opened it an slipped on my finger......

by the way.....did you find it easy to sharpen.

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Mike Payne
 
Walt -- anjoyed much the other thread posting you made. Followed the link there to CRKT's explanation of their steels' composition, etc.

Frankly, was kind of flabbergasted (sp?) to see that according to the chart, Vanadium doesn't affect wear resistance. Just re-read April Blade steel article, mostly about the CPM steels. Have read numerous other articles. All say that the extreme hardness of vanadium carbides (91 if I remember correctly) vastly increases the edge-holding capability of steels with vanadium in them.

Is CRKT maybe being a little self-serving here? Not wanting to explain why they don't use any steels high in Vanadium, because it makes steels difficult to work? Or have I misread all these articles, and Vanadium has nothing to do with wear resistance?

Bugs
 
Mike,
Just a little touch-up with the ceramic rod and it was very, VERY sharp. I love the carbon fiber handles. I can't really explain it, but the CF is the best looking handle material. At least to my eyes.

Will
 
the M-16-10F is a very sharp knife, not only because of the high grade steel (which i thought actually held an edge a lil better than ats-34) but because the angle the edge is ground at is very very thin. i think it was around 13º-14º per side.
even with that angle, the blade didn't chip at all. then again i didn't try to chop anything...

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Bugs; vanadium carbides are extremely hard. They are basically at the top of the Rockwell C scale. Crucible says that they are about 80-85 Rc, and while the Rc scale theoretically goes to 100, the diameter of the imprint of the brale is so small at the higher numbers that precise measurement is impossible. Bernard Levine wrote an article on this subject in Blade magazine in 1997.

Do these very hard carbides contribute to edge holding? Of course they do. A fact which all of us should know, having perused the knowledge base which is in the front of the BFC website. Just in case you missed Joe Talmadge's excellent Steel FAQs, you can find them HERE

Mo and W carbides (Rc 75) and Cr carbides (Rc 65-70) also contribute to edge holding.

Hope this helps, Walt
 
Thanks, Walt. I keep forgetting about the articles and reviews in the knowledge base. Thanks for the reminder.

You'd have to have a memory like mine to understand why I was quizzing the "missing X" on CRKT's steels chart. I have read a # of articles on steel, virtually everyone of which talks about the wear-enhancing properties of Vanadium. Hence my wondering if there was maybe something self-serving in that oversight/omission. I'm a big fan of CRKT knives -- most of what I own are theirs. But I really don't like that "missing X."

Bugs

PS -- after posting the above, decided to go to CRKT website and do email with my concern. Hope they'll reply. B



[This message has been edited by Bugs3x (edited 03-14-2001).]
 
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